Hello everyone I hope your weekend has gone well. January was a long month for me. I started school for Medical Billing and Coding and continued to work on driving. We got a few snow days which was nice, because it gave me plenty of time to read. Also my D&D games continued to go well. Reading was very productive this month and I got ahead of my goal.
As you can see from my wrap up above I worked mostly with graphic novels this month. But I wanted to share with you my top three pieces that I read in January .
1) The Sweetness Between Us
This adorable tale of a newly turned vampire and a diabetic presents a sweet romance. It addresses serious issues, including race, disability, and healthy relationships. Perley and Amandine are both starting their junior year. However both of them are behind their classmates because of major life changes. Amandine has recently been turned into a vampire after an accident and is struggling with it. While Perley is having issues with his diabetes and struggling to pay for supplies and is having trouble tracking his blood sugar.
The two quickly become friends and soon realize Amadine can tell Perley’s blood sugar by tasting it. Amandine avoids human blood but realizes helping Perley gives her a little boost. The two begin a relationship and the two start to come to terms with their new life changes. They soon have to deal with the fact that they really shouldn’t be helping each other with exchanging blood.
I enjoyed this piece because it dealt with disability, but I also thought it was a unique take on vampirism. I love the relationship between Amandine and Perley. And I thought they were very mature in how they dealt with finding their own lives apart from their relationship.
Amazon: The Sweetness Between Us
2) I Shall Never Fall in Love
I’ve already reviewed Hari Conner’s lovely work about gender roles here. But I have to say it was one of my favorites from the whole month. I loved the way it looked into gay and trans people historically, specifically in Regency England.
The book tells the story of a young person, Georgina or “George”. George is what we would call someone who is transgender today. The story is about them finding themselves as well as finding support and love for who they are.
I found one of the main characters to be a little annoying. I loved learning about George’s process of becoming himself throughout the book. Also Charlotte’s arc was very interesting. Maybe it’s a good thing I had such strong feelings about Elanor. Because I absolutely thought both Charlotte and George could have done better.
Amazon: I Shall Never Fall In Love
3) Saint Catherine
My review for Saint Catherine is here. This stirring tale of faith, hope and doubt follows Catherine a young 20 something. Catherine has left most of her religious up bringing behind. The only exception to this is the fact that she still goes to church every Sunday.
Catherine is worried something bad will happen if she doesn’t go to church every Sunday. When she misses one Sunday just to prove to herself that nothing will happen. Catherine gets supposedly possessed by a demon.
Having to deal with the guilt and some of her childhood fears Catherine soon begins a downward spiral. Will she be able to find her way in her new life or will she become consumed by guilt.
This piece was excellent and dealt with the effects of religious trauma and childhood fears manifesting as an adult. Overall it was a great piece and I can’t wait to get my hands on a copy.
Amazon: Saint Catherine
What were some of your favorites from January? Did you hit your reading goals for the month? I’m looking to dig into some longer books for February as well as my usual graphic novels. Are you doing any book challenges? Let me know in the comments.
Rose's Book Garden 